BEIRUT // ISIL has beheaded or shot 17 men in Syria in the past two days as it faces increasing attacks from unidentified gunmen in areas it controls, a monitoring group said on Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which uses a network of sources across the country to report on the war, said the spike in executions follows the killing of 10 ISIL fighters in hit-and-run attacks in several areas around Deir Al Zor province this month.
Syrian state news agency SANA said on Thursday ISIL executed three civilians and displayed their bodies in the town of Al Mayadin.
There have been no claims of responsibility for the recent attacks on ISIL, attributed by Syrian state media last week to “popular resistance” to ISIL.
Last year, Reuters reported on Syrians who say they have been hunting down ISIL fighters in Deir Al Zor province operating in small groups in a guerrilla campaign that has emerged as a response to brutality.
* Reuters
